Eriksson publicly put his name forward for the post in 2010 following the departure of Rafa Benitez, but failed to make the shortlist as it went instead to Roy Hodgson.

He revealed then that he had grown up in Sweden as a Liverpool fan, but admits now that any hopes of ever taking charge at Anfield have gone.

The 65-year-old, who managed England between 2001 and 2006, spent the 2007-08 season as Manchester City boss and later had stints in the Football League with Notts County and Leicester.

But it was Liverpool that Eriksson, who now coaches Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F, always wanted to manage.

He told talkSPORT: “In the past, it was always a dream to manage Liverpool but that will not happen.

“I’ve always been a Liverpool fan. My father was a Liverpool fan, so it’s in the family.

"Liverpool have been doing rather well this season, better than for many years, and I hope they can compete this year in the Premier League because they haven’t done that for a long time.”

Eriksson, a league title winner in Sweden, Portugal and Italy during a 36-year managerial career, also revealed that he would have liked another go at the England job.

He guided them to three successive major tournament quarter-finals, losing to eventual winner Brazil at the 2002 World Cup and suffering penalty shootout defeats to Portugal at Euro 2004 and Germany 2006.

He said: “There is unfinished business, but I will never have the England job again so I don’t really think about it.

“But it’s the biggest football job you can have, a fantastic job. You are proud and happy to have it every day. It’s probably the biggest job in the world.”